Mixing Business and Pleasure in the Kitchen

Archive for the tag “mozzarella”

So let me tell you about this beast of a sandwich. You might be thinking to yourself, What sort of crazy person makes a spaghetti sub?? Honestly, I had never even heard of such a thing, though apparently they do exist and even have quite a little following at the restaurants that offer them. I think the idea actually came to us one night over a spaghetti dinner. We were sitting there happily slurping our spaghetti and wiping our plates with crusty bread when the husband had a flash of genius. Why not stuff a loaf of garlic bread with the spaghetti? The conversation then quickly turned to a better garlic bread, great sauce, and–the crowning glory–bubbly mozzarella cheese.

Lasagne al Forno. So delicious. Homemade ragu bolognese, fresh pasta, creamy balsamella, nutty parmigiano throughout with a sprinkling of mozzarella to top things off–this dish is so worth the effort and the leftovers are amazing.

If you’ve been following my posts leading up to this grand finale, you’ve had a sweet peek into each of the delicious ingredients in this authentic Italian lasagne. Yes, this dish is a labor of love, but the results are nothing short of delizioso.

If you ever happen to visit Seattle, I really hope you’ll make a point of popping into Beecher’s Handmade Cheese. It’s right across from Pike Place Market and you’d be going there anyway, right? Right. Anyway, not only can you watch batches of cheese being made right before your eyes, but their menu boasts some seriously delicious offerings. One of my personal favorites is their Tomato-Cheddar Soup paired with a big Breadzel, an über good breadstick all twisted up like a pretzel with cheese and herbs hiding within. Lucky for me (and you) both of these recipes can be found in Kurt Beecher Dammeier’s excellent cookbook, Pure Flavor.

Here, I’ve made an adaptation using my own pizza dough recipe. Depending on how many breadsticks you need, you can either use a half-batch of pizza dough or the whole kit and kaboodle. I’ve also given instructions (and nutrition information) for two different sizes–giant and regular. Though, if you’ve got a crowd coming over or you’d like smaller appeteaser-sized sticks, make ’em whatever size suits your fancy. Just watch them as they bake and pull them out when they’re light golden brown in places.